When Snapchat signaled that it was gearing up for its much-anticipated initial public offering last October, many investors interpreted the news as a signal that the sleepy tech I.P.O. pipeline was on track for a turnaround. But there may be reason for caution yet. This week, Evan Spiegel’s brainchild was hit with a lawsuit filed by a former employee that threatens to derail the company’s upward trajectory, mere months before the messaging and video company is expected to hit the public market in an I.P.O. that could value Snapchat at $25 billion or more.

In a lawsuit filed with a California court on Wednesday, ex-Snapchat employee Anthony Pompliano alleged that the Venice, California–based company “falsely misrepresented” its growth metrics while recruiting him for its business operations team in August 2015 from Facebook, where Forbesreports he led growth and engagement initiatives for its Pages feature. While much of the lawsuit is redacted, it accuses the company of misleading investors “in an effort to inflate Snapchat’s valuation, with the ultimate goal of taking the company public through a multi-billion dollar” I.P.O.

Pompliano, who only worked at Snapchat for three weeks, argues in the suit that he was wrongfully terminated because he alerted Drew Boller, Snapchat’s vice president of finance, Jill Hazelbaker, the company’s vice president of communications, and Brian Thiesen, who was then the director of business operations, of the “falsity of Snapchat’s representations.” The suit also alleges Snapchat only hired Pompliano for the “nefarious purpose of obtaining Facebook’s confidential and proprietary information” and has since “sought to destroy his career and reputation.”

In a statement to Vanity Fair, a spokesperson for Snapchat flatly dismissed the allegations shortly after Pompliano filed the suit. “We've reviewed the complaint. It has no merit. It is totally made up by a disgruntled former employee,” they wrote in an e-mail.

(Update: In a court filing dated January 18, Snapchat further denied Pompliano’s allegations, which it said were “false from top to bottom and right out of his allege-fraud-against-former-employers playbook.” The social media company added: “He provides no support for these allegations—unsurprising because he worked at Snap for three weeks, was not on the executive team and did not interact with investors,” Business Insider reports.)

Regardless of its merits, Pompliano’s lawsuit comes at a critical time for the company. Last year, Snapchat predicted that it would generate revenues between $250 million and $350 million and estimated that its revenues would balloon to between $500 million and $1 billion in 2017—metrics that are, of course, tied to the numbers Pompliano’s suit calls into question. The allegations could potentially scare off investors wary of social-media companies going public in a post-Twitter I.P.O. world.